Tell me if you have heard this one? "Building a business is like jumping off a cliff and building a parachute on the way down." That is a little like how we've been feeling around here lately but I have to say that it feels like the parachute is coming together pretty well so far, with a lot of help from a lot of amazing people!

We are on track to open our webstore soon with our first delivery date planned for the first week of April. We heard from many people through our survey and market research that they would like to be able to access a pick-up location for their grocery deliveries so we have made that happen! We are very pleased to announce that the new home of Long Table Grocery is going to be 678 Doherty Drive in the former Bistro, next to Kwik Kleen Laundromat. We have also arranged to have two more pick-up locations - one in South Quesnel at QBREW and one in Bouchie Lake at Bouchie Lake Country Store. We may add to these pick-up locations in future so if your workplace would make a good pick-up spot please let us know!

Groceries from Long Table are going to be available by subscription, or you can shop every two weeks without committing to a subscription. There are many benefits to our subscription model though, one of the main ones being that it allows us to make buying commitments to our growers and producers that give them more security and capacity. Committing to our farmers means they are able to commit to delivering you fresh, local produce.

Our subscription process starts with choosing one of our box options. Once you choose a box (or several), you can choose what options you would like to add to your box. Options are things like coffee, honey, bread, eggs etc. Subscriptions can be changed, paused or cancelled at any time by logging into an account you will be given. You can also add occasional items to your subscription from our online market as long as it is before the order cut-off.

Here is a little product description of our main Harvest Box:

"Harvest Box: This box is great for those who cook at home at least a few nights a week and snack on fruits and veggies. If you appreciate a variety of delicious fruits and veggies you will adore this option. This box is sized for an average couple or small family or 1- 2 vegetarians who don't cook at home every night and should last about a week to ten days depending on how much you cook.

Produce in this Harvest Box is a mix of locally grown (both organic and non-certified organic) and organic BC/Fair Trade items. Most family harvests feature: 1-2 types of greens, 6-7 types of veggies (both cooking vegetables and snacking) and 4-5 types of fruit.

The types of produce in this box will be curated for exceptional seasonality, popularity, price and quality. We prioritize locally grown produce first, then BC Grown organic, then Fair Trade organic. We will mainly focus on things that you are likely to use, with the occasional unusual vegetable or fruit in the mix for variety."

So far we have been able to source local suppliers for meat, produce, cheese, syrup, jams, herbs, pickles, bread and baked goods, spice mixes, soup, granola, garlic, honey, coffee and more! I have been surprised to find, even as a long time Farmers' Market shopper, that there are so many more local food producers here than I thought. It is an exciting time to be doing local food work, and we can't wait to show you what we have been building!